According to the World Steel Association WorldSteel, for 7 months of 2020, metallurgical enterprises of the countries of the world smelted 790.11 million tons of pig iron, of which 743.62 million tons by the blast furnace method and 46.49 million tons by the direct reduction method. This is 3.79% less than in the same period in 2019.
The first place belongs to the People's Republic of China (PRC), whose metallurgists smelted 510.86 million tons of pig iron in January-July 2020, which is 3.15% more than in January-July 2019. The share of Chinese pig iron in world production for 7 months of 2020 is 64.7%.
The positions of other leading countries have not changed.
Ukraine with a production of 11.74 million tons (98.7% compared to January-July 2019) ranks 9th among 40 countries that produce pig iron.
World steel production, according to WorldSteel, for 7 months of 2020 amounted to 1,027.41 million tons, which is 5.27% less than in January-July 2019.
China is also the leader here, having smelted 593.17 million tons of steel, which is 2.78% more than in the first 7 months of 2019. The PRC's share in world steel production is currently 57.7%.
The positions of other leading countries have not changed.
Ukraine smelted 11.86 million tons of steel in the reporting period (93.2% versus January-July 2019) and ranks 13th among 62 producing countries.
The decline in global iron and steel production was primarily caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
